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Today’s Super Comics — Power Man and Iron Fist #1-4 (2016)

I initially overlooked this series. Judging from the first storyline, that was a mistake.

Power Man and Iron Fist manages to be consistently amusing while maintaining a strong heart at its core. Ultimately, it’s a series about friendship—that of the two title characters, and that of the two antagonists, one of which also happens to be a longtime friend and colleague of Luke Cage and Danny Rand.

The dynamic between Luke and Danny is as great as you’d expect for two characters with a lengthy history. Danny wants to renew their old partnership. Luke does not. Jessica Jones especially does not (she and Luke have been married for some time in the comics; here, she’s just a recurring cameo, but even her brief appearances are always welcome). Also great is how the heroes’ error in judgment sets the plot into motion.

I hadn’t realized that Mariah Dillard, Alfre Woodard’s character on the Luke Cage Netflix series, had a comic book counterpart, one who apparently answers to the name “Black Mariah” (yeah, that sounds a bit dated). The two versions of the character have practically nothing in common, other than both being criminals. Still, the comic book version works well in this medium and this story (nickname aside).

I’ll be sure to check out #5 when it hits Marvel Unlimited.

Writer: David Walker

Artist: Sanford Greene

Publisher: Marvel Comics

How to Read It: recent back issues; Marvel Unlimited; Comixology; included in Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1: The Boys Are Back in Town (TPB)